Article excerpt

Opera expands this season as Opera Theater joins Pittsburgh Opera
with performances scheduled in the Cultural District, Downtown.

The two companies are not really competitive, because Pittsburgh
Opera, the region's top opera company, is in a different league than
Opera Theater, which focuses on young, emerging talent. But the new
venue alignment brings welcome variety to the season.

Pittsburgh Opera is offering a four-opera Italian festival,
supplemented Jan. 26-Feb. 3 by English composer Jonathan Dove's
"Flight," set at an airport.

Pittsburgh Opera opens with its participation in the Australia
Festival by use of Opera Australia's production of Giacomo Puccini's
"Madame Butterfly," Oct. 13-21. The set features a wooden platform
surrounded by water.

Gaetano Donizetti's charming light comedy "The Elixir of Love,"
Nov. 10-18, features soprano Elizabeth Futrell in a production that
moves the action from a small town in Italy to a small town in
America.

"Aida," Giuseppe Verdi's opera set in ancient, imperial Egypt,
returns to the Benedum Center for the first time in 12 seasons,
playing March 29-April 6. Spectacular and intimate, "Aida" is one of
the most popular operas.

Pittsburgh Opera closes its season with a continuation of "Romeo
and Juliet" explorations, represented during the 2006-07 season by
Charles Gounod's opera. …